Pages

Monday, August 20, 2012

Missing Ethiopia

In June 2008, Sarah and I woke up at a ridiculously unholy hour of the morning, bags packed, and minds racing. We boarded our plane to DC and then another one to our final destination - Ethiopia. It was a trip of firsts - my first time flying without any "adults" (i.e. we were in charge), my first time to Africa & to Ethiopia, my first time without seeing my family for longer than a few weeks, my first time blogging (pahah check us out Sisters vs. Wild)...and about a million other firsts :)

To make a very long story short, it was one of the most amazing times of my life. It was definitely the best "trip" I'd ever been on. It blew all my expectations & hopes out of the water. Those six weeks changed me forever. I feel so grateful for my Ethiopian sister, Bethy, introducing me to her beautiful country & family & life. I feel so blessed to have met such wonderful people who loved me and let me in. The Lord was so present and good during those weeks (like He always is...but I felt praise welling up inside me every single day I was there).

We loved everything about our stay there. We especially loved spending almost every day at a small orphanage nearby. We knew every one of those 23 beautiful children by name, we knew what they liked and dislike, we learned their personalities & taught them English. I will never forget their smiles. It was so hard to leave but I hoped one day that I'd get to go back.

Then 2 years later, I had the opportunity to return with 4 guys, one in particular that ended up being THE guy. We only got to spend 3 weeks this time but it was incredible. Rob had lived there for 9 months in 2007-2008, and we both picked up right where we left off. We hit the ground running and all of our relationships continued where they had started. We made new friends as well - I got to introduce our group to some of my favorite people, and Rob got to introduce us to his. We got to eat injerra again, drink macchiatos, I had my fill of GBCs (glass bottled cokes) and we wanted to stay there much longer than we could.

This summer was the 2 year mark since our last trip. It feels very strange to not be going back. It feels too long. And I miss the people there SO much. Especially my little ones. I'm so thankful for God's Kingdom across the world. I'm thankful that there are people thousands of miles away that are so different from me, and yet so similar.